Session 4: The Jews

Nazism & Race Race & anti-Semitism were a core issue of Nazi social policy. Nazism stressed that Germans & Aryans were the superior ‘Master Race.’ Jews were the ‘Racial Enemy.’ Aryans - Nazi ideal - in Nazi ideology, a person of non- Semitic descent regarded as racially superior, specifically German blood. Features of an Aryan: Blonde hair, blue eyes, fair skin, men – fit for work & war & women – fit for marriage & motherhood Berlin Olympics Poster showing the Ideal Aryan Image Source:

Nazism & Race Racial Hygiene policies paved the path of persecution to extermination for Jews & other ‘inferior races.’ The Jews & other minorities were considered sub-human & inferior race. They were considered vermin & enemies, sub- human people useful for slavery & when redundant they were ‘exterminated.’ They were placed in Ghettos, & extermination and work camps. A Race Chart – depicting the difference between Aryans & Jews Image Source:

The Nuremberg Laws 1935 Anti-Semitism became government policy. The Nuremberg Laws were laws that Hitler enacted, in order to discriminate & persecute Jews, & laws to protect the ‘purity’ of German blood and society. Following the Nuremberg laws there were boycotts of Jewish shops, doctors, lecturers & lawyers. Jews were forbidden to join the army & attend German State schools. Key Nuremberg Laws Jews were denied German Citizenship. Marriages between Jews & Germans were forbidden Extra-marital relations between Jews & Germans were forbidden 3.Jews were forbidden to employ in their household German servants under the age of forty-five (Hitler didn’t won’t Jewish male employees impregnating young German women). 4.Jews were forbidden to hoist the Nazi flag or wear the Swastika emblem.

Nazi Selection: Classifying Jews At the Wannsee conference it was decided that if one of person’s parents was Jewish, then they were Jewish. However, if only one of their grandparents had been Jewish then they could be classified as being German. In 1940, all Jews had to have their passports stamped with the letter ‘J’ and had to wear the yellow Star of David on their jacket or coat. Jewish Scientists using pseudo science techniques to classify Jews Image Source:

Anti-Semitic Propaganda Nazi Anti-Semitic propaganda poster – The Eternal Jew Image Source:

Kristallnacht November 1938 a Jewish student shot dead a German official in the German embassy in Paris, to avenge for the way in which his family had been treated by the Germans. The Nazis used this killing as an excuse to launch a pogrom against Germany’s Jews. A pogrom is an organized assault on an entire community. The Nazis called their pogrom ‘Kristallnacht’ (Crystal Night) because so much glass was broken. During Kristallnacht approx. 1,000 Jews were killed & 30,000 were killed & sent to concentration camps. Destroyed Jewish Shops in Berlin Image Source:

Jewish Ghettos Ghetto, formerly a section of a town or city within which Jews were compelled by Nazi law to reside. Main Ghettos: Warsaw & Lodz The ghettos were surrounded by walls, and the gates were locked at night. In many instances Jews were compelled to wear identifying insignia (Star of David) outside the ghettos. Hitler caused ghettos to be established in German-occupied countries during World War II as part of his overall plan for annihilating the Jews. After the Wannsee Conference Jews were moved from Ghettos to Concentration Camps.

Jewish Resistance – Warsaw Ghetto Up-rising Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, Jewish armed uprising during World War II in Warsaw, Poland, which lasted for several weeks during April and May It was the largest of several dozen Jewish armed revolts in ghettos and death camps and became the leading symbol of Jewish resistance during the Holocaust. Approx. 12,000 Jews were killed during the up-rising. During the uprising Captured Jews are led by German soldiers to the assembly point for deportation. Image Source: _Warsaw_Ghetto_Uprising_09.jpg

Concentration Camps During the 1930s and 1940s, German Nazi leaders established 22 concentration camps where Jews, along with Roma (Gypsies), homosexuals, Communists, Slavs, and others judged undesirable, were imprisoned. Many prisoners were worked to death, shot, gassed, or given lethal injections. By the end of the war, more than 6 million people had died in concentration camps.

Map of Ghettos & Death Camps Image Source: wikipedia/commons/d/d0/W W2-Holocaust-Poland.PNG

Destruction Through Work By early 1944, the influx of foreign civilian workers into the Third Reich economy had slowed. Facing severe labor shortage (most men at war), German firms turned their attention to SS concentration camps, in which a huge reservoir of a potential labor force was incarcerated. Forced labor: From the spring of 1944, the number of concentration camps that functioned as branches of labor camps grew in Germany and the occupied territories. End ,000 prisoners worked for German firms. Only the fittest were allocated to forced labor for firms. Destruction Through Work within non-labor based camps, Auschwitz Gate: The gate reads Work Makes One Free Image Source: